St. Petersburg
This article describes the stage from the original Arcade Strider. For other uses of "Kazakh", see Kazakh (disambiguation). St. Petersburg ( ) is the first stage in the original Arcade coin-op and all its ports. The stage's in-game official name is Moon's Russian Capital in Japanese ( )Capcom (March 1989, CPS-1 Board). Strider Hiryû (Japanese). Attract Mode, and St. Petersburg in EnglishCapcom (March 1989, CPS-1 Board). Strider (English). Attract Mode, although "Petersburg" has been used in several pre and post-release Japanese sources as the name of Kazakh's capital city in-story as well''Strider'' Development Staff (March 1989). "Strider Hiryu Characters Original Image Collection". Gamest (30). Pg. 98-99.Alfh Lyra wa Lyra. (May 21, 1989). Strider Hiryû -G.S.M. Capcom 2-. CD. Pony Canyon, Scitron. D25B-1001Capcom (October 2006, PlayStation). Gamebook: Strider Hiryu (Japanese). Pg. 18. ISBN 4-86233-076-2.. The stage intro in all versions shows up "Kazakh's SSR A.D. 2048" (Soviet Socialist Republic) written in Cyrillic (Казахская CCP A.D. 2048). Story St. Petersburg is the capital city of the Kazakh Federation, the Imperial Capital of Russia. Located in Eastern Europe, the city has been serving as Grandmaster Meio's home base ever since his appearance on Earth, having taken it over by force. The city is built within a mountainous region, and has been boasted by the Kazakh government to have an unbreakable defense systemCapcom (October 2006, PlayStation). Gamebook: Strider Hiryu (Japanese). Pg. 5. ISBN 4-86233-076-2.. The capital city is protected in its exterior by a great wall with installed searchlights and watchtowers, and internally by a variety of highly advanced defense machines, laser barriers and armed soldiers. Being known as the city with the closest ties to the Grandmaster, Hiryu starts his mission by investigating it and infiltrates the city alone, using his glider to enter through the air. As soon as he lands, alarm systems and laser barriers are activated. Hiryu fends off the city soldiers and defense machines without incident, and proceeds further into the heart of the city. Within the city's grand mosque, he finds the officer council, whose members merge into the monstrous Iron Ruler Ouroboros. Following its destruction, Hiryu heads towards the Siberian wilderness.Sega (September 1990, Mega Drive). Strider Hiryû (Japanese). Instruction manual, Pg. 21 Layout Note: Area names are not official Starting Area The initial area, which Hiryu flies over with his glider in the intro. It starts on a straight set of platforms, in front of several onion dome cathedral rooftops and buildings sporting the country's half-star symbol, where Hiryu is faced by the Kazakh infantry and defense machines Flying Mosqueman and Rascal. After a small gap, there's a vertical ascent that follows a long incline lined up with laser pods, followed by a descend with more laser pods and a drill-spear trap, ending in a long pit. Strobaya's Room Strobaya's room is located below the large gap, and one can actually skip it (and Strobaya) by a well-timed Acceleration Jump just as one reaches the edge of the gap. Strobaya's room is a small square area with only a small platform on its right side, where Strobaya awaits. As soon as Hiryu falls, the ceiling closes itself and the battle begins. After Strobaya's defeat the ceiling comes down in flames, forcing one to hide under the platform. Grand Mosque Located in the heart of the city and right next to Strobaya's room, this is where the city's council is located. It's a big structure formed of three domes, two as its base and one on top, similar to the Mosque's rooftops. Hiryu starts ascending through the left side of this building, which is surrounded by scaffoldings and metal beams that Hiryu can cling onto, while avoiding soldiers and laser pods set on its length. After reaching the other side of this building, Hiryu breaks through a wall to enter. The room within is a small oval chamber with the laser battery Novo in its center, and a stained glass on its walls in the form of the half-star symbol. Below this chamber is a set of stairs and a small corridor leading into the council's chambers, the last area. This giant chamber is surrounded by the stands for the 24 officers, and has 2 metal structures hanging on each side of the arena, meant to help Hiryu in his battle with Ouroboros. Stage Enemies Enemies present in this stage include: * Flying Mosqueman * Russian Infantryman (green and red version) * Rascal * Wall Turrets * Boss: Strobaya (optional) * Mosqueman * Boss: Novo * Shadow Tag Bullets Soldier * Boss: Ouroboros Design Notes The decision to make a futuristic Kazakh the setting of the game's first stage came from Isuke's desire to create an adventure "in a mysterious place player had never seen before, in a near future that was not too far away from reality"Robson, Daniel (October 2014). "The Making of...Strider". Edge (271). Pg. 96-99.. That part of the world seemed "fresh" at the time, being a setting not as used in fiction as America or Japan.Scion; Dire 51 (24 April 2010). "Interview with Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui". LSCM 4.0. Translated by Gaijin Punch. Accessed 26 June 2014. The name "St. Petersburg" refers to a Russian federal city that was originally the capital city of Imperial Russia, even though the stage's stated location and general appearance are wildly different to the actual city. Isuke revealed that since the staff was never actually in the region, the city was designed based entirely on pictures from books and imagination; and added that, having seen Kazakhstan on TV, it looked totally different from how he imagined it. Other Appearances Marvel vs. Capcom Kazakh's capital appears in the first Marvel vs. Capcom game as Hiryu's individual stage, under the name Neo St. Petersburg (written in English in all versions). It presents several nods to its source, including the searchlights and laser pods, as well as a laser-writing in the background spelling Kazakh's Russian name and "A.D. 2048", in reference to the stage intro title. Neo St. Petersburg later appears as the background of the special variant cover for Rocket #4, one of 20 tie-in comic book variant covers created for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibouken Parts of St. Petersburg appear in the Strider-themed board in Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibouken, showing 8-bit renditions of the onion-domed towers and the large cathedral building in the background. Two onion-domed towers are also used in the quiz screen. Street Fighter × All Capcom St. Petersburg is one of the many locations from Capcom games found in Street Fighter x All Capcom's "Street Fight" mode. Gallery Petersburg_start.png|Starting Area Petersburg_vcedit.png|Starting Area in the Virtual Console rerelease Petersburg_strobayaroom.png|Strobaya's Room Petersburg_novoroom.png|Novo's Room Petersburg_insidemosque.png|Inside Mosque Council.png|Council Chamber Pce_petersburg.png|City view from the PC-Engine intro Hiryu_Stage.gif|Neo St. Petersburg (Marvel vs. Capcom) CQHnD quiz screen.png|Onion-domed towers in Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibouken's quiz screen Sfxac_st._petersburg_art.png|St. Petersburg (Street Fighter x All Capcom) Trivia * The text appearing on buildings in the Arcade's first stage shows the Russian acronym and description for the "Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF)", "Международная демократическая федерация женщин (МДФЖ)". This is a concurrent international organization working for women's rights that was founded in Paris in 1945. During the Cold War years, it was described as Communist-leaning and pro-Soviet. * As seen in the gallery above, the Russian-styled buildings found in the stage's initial area were redrawn into generic futuristic buildings for the game's Virtual Console rerelease, presumedly to avoid any sort of controversy with Middle Eastern countries. For some reason, these edited buildings were also carried over into the stage's appearance in Street Fighter x All Capcom. References Category:Locations